In a world first, it is the first time someone who has had a complete cut to their spinal cord has been able to walk freely. Details of the system have been reported in Nature Medicine.
How the spinal implant works:
Michel Roccati lost all feeling and movement in his legs after a motorcycle accident that severed his spinal cord in 2017 but can stand and walk with electrical stimulation that is controlled wirelessly from a tablet.
Developed by Prof Grégoire Courtine, a neuroscientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, and Prof Jocelyne Bloch, a neurosurgeon at Lausanne university hospital, the system uses a flexible electrode laid on top of the spinal cord nerves, beneath the vertebrae.
The implant delivers electrical pulses to spinal cord nerves that control different muscles in the legs and torso. The pulses, in turn, are controlled by software on a tablet that issues instructions for a certain action, such as standing, walking, cycling, or kicking the legs for swimming.
“It was not perfect at the beginning, but they could train very early to have a more fluid gait,” said Bloch.
“Thanks to this technology, we’ve been able to target individuals with the most serious spinal cord injuries,” Courtine said. “By controlling these implants, we can activate the spinal cord like the brain would do naturally to have the patient stand, walk, swim or ride a bike.”
Researchers stress that the implant isn’t a cure for spinal injury and that the technology is still too complicated to be used in everyday life. However, scientists are pleased with progressing, welcomed as a major step to improving quality of life.
The research has been backed by Dr Ram Hariharan, a consultant at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield who is independent of the research team and also speaks for the Spinal Injuries Association.
